Bellator 153 Averages 618k Viewers

[CC27]

Mike Bohn ‏@MikeBohnMMA
Bellator 153 featuring Benson Henderson's debut averaged 618,000 viewers for Spike on Friday. NBA Playoff primary competition on the night.

 

[CC27]

they had more competition on the night but I honestly thought they would do a million and they needed to hit that to be a real success.

With what they paid him and how they hyped his signing like it was the biggest free agent signing ever to do that low is bad.

 

[CardinalAqua]

yeah, i saw the numbers earlier and it doesn't surprise me, i did think it would at least hit the .30s and even then that would be terrible anyway​

 

[Go Go Plata]

Well Bendo was a flop.

Whats the next idea?

 

[KeeSmyth]

Ouch, that sucks
More Kimbo and Shamrock fights i guess

 

[TheBrownRanger]

Man, that sucks. If Bendo did that bad, can't imagine how Davis/Mo will do considering the competition that night.

 

[Meathead Jock]

Ouch... That sucks. The Bendo preview show got better ratings than his fight. What was the peak during the main event?

 

[mime]

thats really bad even with the nba playoffs

 

[AGEZ909]

This is why freakshows take place. Gotta get the ratings in somehow.

I know the playoffs were taking place, but I still expected bigger numbers. I wonder where bellator will go from here? They are still giving a push with the increase in events and increase in international events.

 

[CC27]

Wow that is crazy, his preview show got Bellator ratings than his fight and he got his ass kicked.

Wonder if Bellator starts to rethink the money they pay to certain guys.


Just shows how important Kimbo is for Bellator, without him they'd be in a tough spot.

Tito isnt drawing like he was, Rampage is back but will people care about the Ishii fight?

 

[qw3rty]

Instead of MMMA/Kickboxing events, they should make MMA/NBA events.
Put Kongo vs Lebron and Da Spida playing with the Spurs

 

[CC27]

Bellator Kickboxing did 325k.

 

[WallyBear]

Bellator Kickboxing did 325k.

I did expect a bit more but mostly because I thought the MMA card draws more viewers, so that overall more people would stay at Spike and watch their kickboxing debut.
I think it was a good idea, but tape delay sucks so hard and the MMA card bombed, so yeah, not too surprising.

Viacom way probably hoping for better numbers. Especially with the money they invest into Benson.

 

[Devilboy86]

I thought the numbers would of been better... Henderson always drew better than avg when he was on Fox cards. Bellator needed to give him a bigger push though they didnt really promote it as well as they do for a Kimbo or Tito fight. If you're gonna pay him big money you should put more money in promoting him too.

 

[Meathead Jock]

I thought the numbers would of been better... Henderson always drew better than avg when he was on Fox cards. Bellator needed to give him a bigger push though they didnt really promote it as well as they do for a Kimbo or Tito fight. If you're gonna pay him big money you should put more money in promoting him too.

They gave him a preview show that had better ratings than his actual fight. I think they promoted it just fine, it just didn't work out for whatever reason, it sucks though.... everyone complains about Kimbo fighting but they watch it, then we get an awesome fight like this and they don't tune in; MMA fans are some of the worst ha.

 

[Rogerdraven]

People keep complaining about freak show & legends fights, but when it comes to what matters, freak show/legends fights get 4x the ratings that legit fighters bring in. They put on what people actually watch. If you want to stay in business and be successful, you have to.

 

[Waterade]

People keep complaining about freak show & legends fights, but when it comes to what matters, freak show/legends fights get 4x the ratings that legit fighters bring in. They put on what people actually watch. If you want to stay in business and be successful, you have to.

Exactly fans and media complain that Bellator is a circus organization that likes to put on freak show fights but people only tune in when they put on those type of fights.The media only gives bellator coverage when there is a freak show fight. It doesn't make any sense.

 

[CC27]

Like it or not this means more freakshow fights cause its the only time Bellator can draw any viewers.

Also the kickboxing event flopped, no idea why Bellator is even wasting money doing it, its never gonna be a sport fans care about in US.

If they are gonna do it they need to do it like they do Bellator which is go full mma mode with it.

They should be putting Rampage, Daley, MVP, Pitbull brothers, Lima etc in matches and then also Kimbo.

I have no doubt at all you will see Kimbo take a kickboxing match.

 

[CC27]

They gave him a preview show that had better ratings than his actual fight. I think they promoted it just fine, it just didn't work out for whatever reason, it sucks though.... everyone complains about Kimbo fighting but they watch it, then we get an awesome fight like this and they don't tune in; MMA fans are some of the worst ha.

Preview show aired after Kimbo card right so thats why it got ratings it did but yeah they promoted it as well as they could.

They hyped Bendo as like the biggest free agent signing ever, he got a preview show, commercials etc.

problem was his opponent wasnt a name fans knew, he fought on a day with playoff basketball, weekend Jones and a UFC card was on and McGregor/UFC 200 news was breaking which dominated news cycle in mma.

You put that card on a month agao before NBA playoffs on a weekend with no UFC and the card probably does atleast 200k more viewers.

 

[NoBiasJustMMA]

I think having Benson fight their WW champion was a mistake, the viewers that Benson brought in wanted him to win and he got his ass kicked.